diff --git a/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main.go b/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main.go
index 4849ba40..74d8ec0e 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ type reportJSON struct {
 
 func main() {
 	repoRootFlag := flag.String("repo-root", ".", "Repository root path")
-	baselineFlag := flag.String("baseline", "origin/main...HEAD", "Git diff baseline")
+	baselineFlag := flag.String("baseline", "origin/development...HEAD", "Git diff baseline")
 	backendCoverageFlag := flag.String("backend-coverage", "backend/coverage.txt", "Backend Go coverage profile")
 	frontendCoverageFlag := flag.String("frontend-coverage", "frontend/coverage/lcov.info", "Frontend LCOV coverage report")
 	jsonOutFlag := flag.String("json-out", "test-results/local-patch-report.json", "Path to JSON output report")
diff --git a/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main_test.go b/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main_test.go
index efe4cebf..df04b8f8 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main_test.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/localpatchreport/main_test.go
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ func TestGitDiffAndWriters(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	report := reportJSON{
-		Baseline:    "origin/main...HEAD",
+		Baseline:    "origin/development...HEAD",
 		GeneratedAt: "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z",
 		Mode:        "warn",
 		Thresholds:  thresholdJSON{Overall: 90, Backend: 85, Frontend: 85},
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ func TestGitDiffAndWriters(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("read json file: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(string(jsonBytes), "\"baseline\": \"origin/main...HEAD\"") {
+	if !strings.Contains(string(jsonBytes), "\"baseline\": \"origin/development...HEAD\"") {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected json content: %s", string(jsonBytes))
 	}
 
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ func TestWriteJSONReturnsErrorWhenPathIsDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 func TestWriteMarkdownReturnsErrorWhenPathIsDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := t.TempDir()
 	report := reportJSON{
-		Baseline:             "origin/main...HEAD",
+		Baseline:             "origin/development...HEAD",
 		GeneratedAt:          "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z",
 		Mode:                 "warn",
 		Thresholds:           thresholdJSON{Overall: 90, Backend: 85, Frontend: 85},
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ func TestMain_WarnsForInvalidThresholdEnv(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestWriteMarkdownIncludesArtifactsSection(t *testing.T) {
 	report := reportJSON{
-		Baseline:         "origin/main...HEAD",
+		Baseline:         "origin/development...HEAD",
 		GeneratedAt:      "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z",
 		Mode:             "warn",
 		Thresholds:       thresholdJSON{Overall: 90, Backend: 85, Frontend: 85},
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ func TestAssertFileExistsErrorMessageIncludesLabel(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestWriteJSONContentIncludesTrailingNewline(t *testing.T) {
 	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "out.json")
-	report := reportJSON{Baseline: "origin/main...HEAD", GeneratedAt: "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z", Mode: "warn"}
+	report := reportJSON{Baseline: "origin/development...HEAD", GeneratedAt: "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z", Mode: "warn"}
 	if err := writeJSON(path, report); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("writeJSON: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -841,7 +841,7 @@ func TestMainStderrForMissingFrontendCoverage(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestWriteMarkdownWithoutWarningsOrFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	report := reportJSON{
-		Baseline:         "origin/main...HEAD",
+		Baseline:         "origin/development...HEAD",
 		GeneratedAt:      "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z",
 		Mode:             "warn",
 		Thresholds:       thresholdJSON{Overall: 90, Backend: 85, Frontend: 85},
@@ -1026,7 +1026,7 @@ func TestMainProcessHelperWithMalformedArgsExitsNonZero(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestWriteMarkdownContainsSummaryTable(t *testing.T) {
 	report := reportJSON{
-		Baseline:         "origin/main...HEAD",
+		Baseline:         "origin/development...HEAD",
 		GeneratedAt:      "2026-02-17T00:00:00Z",
 		Mode:             "warn",
 		Thresholds:       thresholdJSON{Overall: 90, Backend: 85, Frontend: 85},
diff --git a/docs/issues/local_patch_report_dod_manual_checklist.md b/docs/issues/local_patch_report_dod_manual_checklist.md
index 6668efe3..9fae1e8c 100644
--- a/docs/issues/local_patch_report_dod_manual_checklist.md
+++ b/docs/issues/local_patch_report_dod_manual_checklist.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Validate that local patch-report workflow is executed in Definition of Done (DoD
   - [ ] `test-results/local-patch-report.md`
   - [ ] `test-results/local-patch-report.json`
 - [ ] Confirm JSON includes:
-  - [ ] `baseline = origin/main...HEAD`
+  - [ ] `baseline = origin/development...HEAD` (or `development...HEAD` when remote ref is unavailable)
   - [ ] `mode = warn`
   - [ ] `overall`, `backend`, `frontend` coverage blocks
   - [ ] `files_needing_coverage` list
diff --git a/scripts/local-patch-report.sh b/scripts/local-patch-report.sh
index 7d2aa5ee..aa814c7c 100755
--- a/scripts/local-patch-report.sh
+++ b/scripts/local-patch-report.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
-BASELINE="${CHARON_PATCH_BASELINE:-origin/main...HEAD}"
+BASELINE="${CHARON_PATCH_BASELINE:-}"
 BACKEND_COVERAGE_FILE="$ROOT_DIR/backend/coverage.txt"
 FRONTEND_COVERAGE_FILE="$ROOT_DIR/frontend/coverage/lcov.info"
 JSON_OUT="$ROOT_DIR/test-results/local-patch-report.json"
@@ -62,6 +62,16 @@ if ! command -v go >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if [[ -z "$BASELINE" ]]; then
+    if git -C "$ROOT_DIR" rev-parse --verify --quiet "origin/development^{commit}" >/dev/null; then
+        BASELINE="origin/development...HEAD"
+    elif git -C "$ROOT_DIR" rev-parse --verify --quiet "development^{commit}" >/dev/null; then
+        BASELINE="development...HEAD"
+    else
+        BASELINE="origin/development...HEAD"
+    fi
+fi
+
 if [[ ! -f "$BACKEND_COVERAGE_FILE" ]]; then
     write_preflight_artifacts "backend coverage input missing at $BACKEND_COVERAGE_FILE"
     echo "Error: backend coverage input missing at $BACKEND_COVERAGE_FILE" >&2
@@ -80,7 +90,7 @@ if [[ "$BASELINE" == *"..."* ]]; then
 fi
 
 if [[ -n "$BASE_REF" ]] && ! git -C "$ROOT_DIR" rev-parse --verify --quiet "${BASE_REF}^{commit}" >/dev/null; then
-    echo "Error: baseline base ref '$BASE_REF' is not available locally. Set CHARON_PATCH_BASELINE to a valid range and retry." >&2
+    echo "Error: baseline base ref '$BASE_REF' is not available locally. Set CHARON_PATCH_BASELINE to a valid range and retry (default attempts origin/development, then development)." >&2
     exit 1
 fi